Flash Fiction Advisory

The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized.

Last week, Henry took a long hard look at terrible film adaptations of books.

Well, there is a bit of flash fiction that most television watchers read every day, and most of them are terrible adaptations.

For example:

A New Yorker beheads a swordsman in a parking lot, continuing a battle of immortals.

That's right, I'm talking about the "plot capsules" that accompany the viewer guide on television programs. The capsule above is the official flash "adaptation" of the film Highlander.

Not all capsules are terrible - some are better than the movie they preview.

The giant moth travels back in time to save the world from a powerful monster.

Okay, not exactly poetry, but I assure you, that synopsis is far more riveting than its object, Rebirth of Mothra 3.

So - here's a fun, fast little exercise: imagine your life's masterpiece (novel, short story, whatever.) Now imagine it as movie. Now write the "capsule" of the movie for the tv guide. You have 15 words to play with.

Flash Fic Advisory #12: Boil it down to the basics.